Mail box



A ril'14, 1925. 1,533,956

0. THORNTON MAIL BOX Filed April 5, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ii CurtisThornfon INVENTOR WITNESS: ATTORNEY April 14, 1925.

v C. THORNTON MAIL BOX Filed April 5, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I H m r m i=2: w L 2/ w fism ATTORNEY WITNESS Patented Apr. 14, 1925.

V UNITED STATES CURTIS THORNTON, OF VERSAILLES, INDIANA.

MAIL BOX.

Application filed April 5, 1924. Serial No. 704,474.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, CURTIS THORNTON,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Versailles, in the county ofRipley and State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Mail Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rural mail boxes, and more particularly to asupporting means therefore, which allows the box to be set back anappreciable distance of]? the road way, in which position it is entirelyout of the way of the traflic, and which means allows the box to bemoved in the direction of the roadway by the carrier when he desires tohave access to the box.

More specifically stated, the invention contemplates the provision of amail box support which includes a sectional post, one section beingstationary, while the other section which supports the box is mountedfor both pivotal and sliding movements with relation to the fixedsection, sothat the mov-' able section can be ar *anged normally in avertical position, and conveniently swung to a horizontal position, andsubsequently moved in the direction of the roadway by the carrier inorder to permit access being had to the box without leaving the vehiclein which he is travelling.

The nature and advantages of the invention will be better understoodwhen the following detailed description is read in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the invention residing in the construction,combination and arrangement of parts as claimed.

In the drawings forming part of this application, like numerals ofreference indicate similar parts in the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation showing the normal position of themovable section of the post.

Figure 2 is a view showing the initial position occupied by the movablesection of the post when swung upon its pivot.

Figure 3 is a View showing the final position of the movable sectionwhen the box is moved toward the roadway for the purpose above stated.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the movable section of the post andbox.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the movable post section.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary view taken at a right angle to Figure 1.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on line 7-7 of Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 10

represents a stationary post section, while 11 indicates a movable postsection which'is mounted for both pivotal and sliding move ments withrelation to the fixed section 10 in a manner and for a purpose to behereinafter described. It might here be stated, that the respectivesections of the post can be constructed from any suitable material andalso vary in size and shape without departing from the spirit-of theinvention.

Rising from the opposed sides of the fixed section 10 are curved arms12, these arms being arranged in pairs and spaced a sufficientdistanceapart to allow the movable section 11 pivotal movement between saidarms. The free ends of these arms terminate in a plane with thelongitudinal center of the section 10, and support a transverse bolt 13.The outer edge of each arm is also formed with a series of teeth 14which cooperate with an element carried by the section 11 to support thelatter in its normal position.

The movable section llsupports a mail box 15 at the upper end thereof,and this mail box may be of any configuration formed and provided with agravity control door 16, which automatically closes when the movablesection 11 is arranged in a vertical position, and automaticallyopenswhen said section is swung to a horizontal position. Carried bythis movable section 11 and arranged longitudinally thereof are spacedloop like members 17 which receive the bolt 13 associated with thecurved armslEZ which arrangement. associates the movable section 11.with the fixed section 10 of the post and at the same time allows themovable section to be swung from a vertical to a horizontal position,and subsequently slide in a hori- Zontal plane toward or away from thefixed section 10. A. yoke 18 is carried by the movable section 11 and isarranged'to engage the teeth 14 of the curved arms 12as shown in Figure1 to support the movable section upon the fixed section 10. The arms 12are provided with attaching cars 19 having a. plurality of openings 20,so that the arms can be adjusted vertically on the fixed section 10 tovary the height of the box within his reach.

as will be readily understood. The yoke-18 is preferably formed with aneye 21 to permit of the use of a rod 22 for the purpose of swinging thesection 11 to a horizontal position, and subsequently reciprocate thebody in a. horizontal plane. This rod is formed with a. hook terminal 23adapted to be received by the eye 21 of the yoke, and is used by thecarrier, so that the box' can be manipulated in the manner statedwithout the driver leaving the vehicle or the like in which he istravellin z In practice, the parts are normally arranged in the mannershown in Figure 1, which arrangement of the parts allows the box in itsentirety to be arranged an appreciable distance off the roadway out ofthe way of traflic. lVhen the carrier approaches the box, he makes useof the rod 22, which is extended to engage the eye 21 of the yoke 18,and by pulling on this yoke, the box is tilted from a. vertical to ahorizontal posi tion upon the bolt 13, which is arranged within the looplike members 17, so that the carrier can draw the movable section towardthe roadway and thus bring the box 15 As above stated, the door 16 ofthis box is weighted to automatically open when the movable section 11is ar ranged horizontally, so that the carrier can have'ready access forthe purpose of collecting or depositing mail matter. The box is returnedto its normal position by simply reversing the movements just stated,and as the box is swung to a vertical position, the yoke engages theteeth 14 on the curved arms and supports it in this position.

lVhile it is believed that from the foregotionary section, curved armsrising above said section, a movable section mounted on said arms forboth pivotal and sliding movements, a mail box carried by one end of themovable section, teeth formed 011 said curved arms and a yoke carried bythe movable section and adapted to engage said teeth to normally supportsaid section in parallelism with the fixed sect-ion.

2. In combination, a post including a. stationary section, curved armsrising therefrom and having aligned openings, a movable section adaptedto operate between the spaced arms, and including spaced parallelslotted members, a bolt adapted to be passed through thecorrespondingopenings in said arms and through the slotsof said parallelmembers to support thesmovable section for pivotal movement, and alsofor sliding movements in both horizontal and vertical planes,cooperating means carried by the movable section and said curved armsfor supporting the former in a vertical position, and a box carried bythe other end of the movable section.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

oun'rrs THORNTON.

